If you told me the Saints offense would produce 359 yards passing and 104 yards rushing (4.7 per rush), I would have expected a lot more than 21 points. Statistically they produced but it wasn’t enough on the scoreboard. Unfortunately the mixture of penalties, mental mistakes and turnovers prevented this offense from turning in the performance necessary for a win. When you consider the mistakes it hurts that much more because the team only lost by six. There were some terrific things and this offense is very capable but has to leave feeling like they let slip a tremendous opportunity. Below are the grades.
Drew Brees: B+ (3.11) Another pretty amazing statistical performance wasted. Brees put up the crazy numbers he’s always capable of: 37 for 48 for 367 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception for a QB rating of 110.3. He was on point with most of his throws. With the offensive line shuffle, there were a number of penalties and Brees took a few vicious hits. Only one was a sack, though, and give him credit for hanging in there and giving his team a chance at the end. Brees was mostly focused on taking advantage of short and intermediate throws but he did so with high efficiency. I’ll give him a pass on the pick because it was a fluke tip that landed perfectly into Sorensen’s hands. My main grip is his play clock management. He seemed to lose awareness of how quickly he needed to snap the ball several times. It cost the Saints 2 timeouts, a delay of game penalty, and a couple close calls with the ball barely snapped in time. That has to be sharper, especially on the road. It was surprising to see a Hall of Famer like Brees struggle with that.
Mark Ingram: C- (2.56) He’s definitely a tough runner, I’ll give him a lot of credit for that. He seemed to be falling forward for an extra yard in almost all cases, including when there was nothing to be gained. His lack of speed is a concern. I don’t understand why they run pitch plays with him. He’s always beat to the sideline and it seems to lose yards every time. In between the tackle he ran hard, but he never seems to hit the second level. He ran for 62 yards on 16 carries with a long of just 7 yards. A lot of marginal gains. He also caught the ball pretty well, with 4 receptions for 20 yards and a touchdown. A workmanlike performance but his lost fumble late in the game was an absolute back breaking killer.
Tim Hightower: B (2.28) I wish he had played more because he ran with quickness, speed and toughness. I much preferred the limited reps I saw from him to Ingram in this game. He was passed over for Lasco but an injury (to Lasco) got him back in the pecking order this week. He responded. An impressive 39 yards on 5 carries and a reception for 5 yards. Definitely his best showing of the season.
Travaris Cadet: C- (2.22) The Saints stuck with Ingram and Hightower mostly in this game so he saw the field seldom. He had just 2 catches for 7 yards, including an important first down. That was on 4 targets, though, and he gave a pretty weak contribution overall. Needed to do a better job getting out of bounds late.
John Kuhn: C+ (2.94) He ran on a 3rd and 1, and surprise surprise, he went 3 yards for a first down. Otherwise, it was mostly lead blocking which was good not great. He did lend a hand in pass protection when he was in, too. I docked his grade a bit due to a completely preventable false start penalty.
Brandin Cooks: B (2.95) A mostly quiet day compared to some for him as he did most of his work underneath. The Chiefs gave him cushion to prevent deep plays so he took what they gave him. I’ll volunteer this performance as a clear exhibit that he’s not a one trick pony, though. For those that label him a “deep threat only” – that’s clearly not the case. He ran great short routes and showed good hands. My only complaint he failed to find the marker on one out route and went out of bound a yard shy of a first down when he easily could’ve moved the chains. He started in a jet sweet motion before running a beautiful wheel route for his score. 7 catches for 58 yards and a touchdown. His chemistry with Brees was on point.
Willie Snead, IV: B+ (2.93) He had 9 catches for 87 yards on 11 targets. Like Cooks he caught a lot of short balls and did his damage underneath. Whenever Brees needed a critical first down on 3rd and short, he was looking Snead’s way. A very solid showing.
Michael Thomas: A (3.28) He’s quickly developing into the Saints’ #1 receiver. In fact, he may be there already. A sure fire sign when you see Brees executing back shoulder throws with him towards the sideline. Pretty amazing for a rookie to have that kind of chemistry with a 37 year old QB. His strength, power, hands – it was all impressive. His ability after the catch has to be terrifying for corners, too. This guy is going to have a really special NFL career. I’m so glad the Saints landed him. He had 10 catches for 130 yards and was very heads up saving his offense by falling on a Coby Fleener fumble. The only complaint with him is a failure to get out of bounds as time expired. His GPA is higher than Brees’s at the moment and is the best on offense.
Brandon Coleman: B (2.40) He’s caught a lot of flak this season and he was an afterthought game plan wise in this one… but for him to come in late despite little play time, peel off his route as Brees escaped the pocket, and come up with a tough catch in the end zone in traffic – it was awesome to see. His lone target was a 10 yard touchdown catch, but his confidence needed that. A big play with the game on the line. Too bad the Saints didn’t have a shot at a Hail Mary with his size.
Coby Fleener: C (2.22) Oddly he played a lot less than Josh Hill in this one. The Saints were committed to the run, which could be why he played less. He was targeted twice and had 2 catches for 44 yards. He had a big 30 yard reception up the seam to get the Saints out of their own end zone. A very quiet day, he always seems 3rd or 4th in progressions. He also had a fumble which could have been very costly on his second reception and was saved by Thomas’s IQ/hustle. He made no impact blocking.
Josh Hill: B- (2.56) His blocking helped pass protection A LOT, and his edge support sealing backside pressure helped Ingram get through the line of scrimmage. A nice job helping and his return has been useful. He had 1 reception for 6 yards but showed good toughness on that catch taking on a tackler.
Terron Armstead: B- (3.11) He’s clearly not 100% and struggling out there. It’s tough because movement is such a huge asset to his game, it’s a bummer to see him so limited there. Yet still, he finds a way to hold up and play well. I give Armstead a ton of credit for toughing out this game. With Andrus Peat out, the offense was severely depleted on the line and they couldn’t afford to not have him playing. So he sucked it up, went back out there, and toughed it out.
Senio Kelemete: B- (2.67) Was doing a pretty good job before a stinger knocked him out. After the hamstring issue, he’s been battling some stuff himself. It’s tough because he’s not one of the preferred 5 but with Armstead and Peat missing time he’s pretty much been a full time starter. It’s too bad his health isn’t allowing him to take advantage of this opportunity because he’s having a pretty good season when he’s playing.
Max Unger: B+ (3.22) Only Michael Thomas has a better GPA than Unger on offense at this point. Once again, his blocking is on point. He’s impeccable in pass protection and he shows tremendous athleticism pulling on a number of the counter plays. Whenever there’s a run 5 yards + down the field, you always seem him pushing the pile forward. There were times where the middle running lanes were clogged but a good showing.
Jahri Evans: C- (2.67) I thought he was much better in the second half, thankfully, after a really poor first half that featured two penalties and him leaving a huge lane for a delayed blitz to come in untouched for a sack. The Chiefs tried the exact same play in the second half and he was there ready for him. The miscues early played a part in the Saints only having 7 points at halftime.
Zach Strief: B+ (2.89) Once again he just continues to play very solid ball. He was physical and didn’t give up any sacks.
Tim Lelito: C (2.44) Got called for holding on a sweep to Ingram once he came in for Kelemete. He was up and down early but seemed to settle down once he got more comfortable.
Tony Hills: C (1.67) Thankfully he had no major mistakes during his limited time playing left tackle but he wasn’t dominating either. You could tell Brees felt urgency to get the ball out quickly.
My Offensive Player of the Game: Michael Thomas
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